Despite the headlines and the wonder-inspiring fact that missile
launchers are floating around U.S. cities, they're all harmless —
and very easy to get, especially if you've been in the Army
or Marine infantry.

"There is no threat to the public, and it has no actual missile,"
says Chris Gray, a spokesman for Army Investigations, on the
supposed-weapon turned into Seattle Police. According to
Gray, that launcher is actually a Cold War relic called the
Redeye from the pre-Vietnam era.

And the same goes for AT-4 rocket launchers given to authorities
in California and New Jersey. As we've reported
before, they are just harmless fiberglass tubes. Once they
are fired once, they cannot ever be reloaded.

Having fired two AT-4 rockets while I was in the Marine Corps, I
know. I used to have one myself.

After getting a direct hit on the target tank on the range, I
thought it was as good a trophy as any.

The services have regulations on signing for the rockets,
which are considered ammunition and not weapons. But unlike
weapons systems, which always need to be returned to the armory,
something like an expended AT-4, which would just be getting
thrown in the garbage after it's fired, isn't really a big deal.